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Chapter 1 - Introduction
What The-? A roleplaying game is about shared storytelling. You get together with several friends and create a tale. Unlike any other kind of game, your group's story can take you, the characters and the Buffyverse anywhere you want it to. The action takes place in your imaginations, and the story is told through your interactions. There are truly no limits. The great thing about roleplaying games is that the direction of the story and the creative choices are all about you. Seriously, you rule! Each of you creates a character, an alternative persona that becomes your "in game" role. This is your cast member. You choose the character's strengths and weaknesses, abilities and limitations, and in particular - personality. During the course of the game, you make this Cast Member's decisions, utterances and actions. You put words in her mouth, spring in her step, and joy in her heart. Or maybe you just brood a lot and kick butt. No sweat, that's a valid lifestyle choice too. The Director All the players and Cast Members are important, but one of you is extra special, and it's most likely you who are reading this book right now. What…you knew that already? Figured as much. The special player is called the Director. The Director stands slightly apart (and maybe upwind) from the other players because she does the bulk of the...well...game directing. That's right, the Director is the first among the creators. She actually set's the scene, plots the plot, details the descriptions and engages in other nifty alliterations. She makes the game go by providing fun stuff for the Cast Members to do, not the least of which is ensuring that everyone has something to dust on a fairly regular basis. The Director also casts and speaks for the other characters - anyone that the Cast Members meet in their adventures. If these folks are neutral or even helpful to the Cast, they are called Guest Stars. A Guest Star could be the homeless guy on the street who witnessed the vamp attack, the perky cheerleader assaulted by the youth-sucking demon, the old witch who has an ancient tome for sale, or someone more mundane . . . or more twisted. These folks come into the Cast Members’ lives, do their part for the plot and leave. Unless, of course, they are recurring types; a Cast Member could even fall in love with one of them and she could become a regular. Hey, it happens a lot in the BtVS TV show. If the Director-controlled characters are out for Cast Member blood . . . or worse, they are called Adversaries. These include the vamps, demons, and other nasties—up to and including the Big Bad. These folks deserve a thorough thrashing. How? That’s up to the Cast Members. All rules decisions are handed down by the Director (usually with some discussion from the other players - we like to think of it as enlightened despotism here). She figures out how and when to use the game mechanics and decides the outcomes of certain rolls. She makes sure things don’t get bogged down in all that “I shot you, no you didn’t, yes I did, nyah, nyah, nyah” stuff we used to get such a kick out of as kids. All that rules stuff is covered much more in the rest of this book. Finally, the Director may provide the gaming room, the padded deluxe gaming seats and some major snackage. Depends on how generous she is feeling. Or how much the other players try to suck up by kicking in that stuff. Most Directors are all in favor of players doing the sucking up thing. Game Sessions Game sessions in the BtVS RPG can take anywhere from a couple hours to an entire weekend (depends on how crazed you are about the whole thing). There is no formal start or end—that’s up to the Director and players to decide. Also, in roleplaying, no one gets to brag about being the winner. The flip side is that no one has to be the loser. The objective is to create a story, engage in some spontaneous and often hilarious conversations, and have a good time with friends. And no, no electronics of any kind are necessary. Pretty uncivilized, eh? Now, don’t go thinking there is no structure here. It’s no madhouse, I tell you. The game is divided into Episodes, resolved in one or more couple-hour gaming sessions. These are plotlines or linked subplots that make up a single story, just like each hour-long TV show. Episodes and their related story arcs may be strung together to form a Season, and several seasons lead into the Series, the whole story created by the interaction between the players’ Cast Members and the Director. Or you could just play one session and bash some badteeth types. We suspect that, once you get started, you’ll want to play again. Roleplaying games are insidious like that. Again, it’s all up to you. Getting Started You need some paper, pencils (or pink pens with feathers sprouting from the top—whatever floats your boat), and some dice. Dice indeed! You’ve no doubt seen the small cubes with dots (called pips, if you must know) or numbers on them. They can be found in old copies of Monopoly, Parcheesi or Trivial Pursuit. Heck, you could even bust them out of their confining bubble in Frustration or Trouble. Always wanted to do that, eh? Anyway, those cubes are called six-sided dice. We gaming pros refer to them as D6s. D6s are good, but useless for the BtVS RPG. The real heavyweights of this game are the D10s, or ten-sided dice. These puppies are usually stocked in hobby game stores—such as the place you picked up this very tome. They are also found in some bookstores or department stores. They are way big with the angst-ridden vampire roleplaying set (if you care). If you can’t find them, call or email us. We’ll hook you up. Finally, you might want to gather some markers or poker chips. You could use those little plastic gems left over from all those Magic or Pokemon card games. Or even better, toothpicks! You could call them Little Mr. Pointies. Whatever you decide, you will need something to record Drama Points. Those suckers (Drama Points, not Little Mr. Pointies) are going to save your Cast Member’s butt at some point. So it’s important to know how many you’ve got. We’ll get into Drama Points in Chapter Three. Dice As you’ve probably noticed, dice are central to the BtVS RPG. We already mentioned that D10 means a ten-sided die. We also hinted that it was the only type of die you will need. When you need to roll, toss that D10. The number that comes up is adjusted by any modifiers applicable and that’s your roll result. Some D10 have a “0” on one face. That’s read as a 10 (despite what it says). We could go on here, but you’ve got the drift now, and...really, there’s not much more to say about the dice. Measurements As you’ve probably noticed, dice are central to the BtVS RPG. We already mentioned that D10 means a ten-sided die. We also hinted that it was the only type of die you will need. When you need to roll, toss that D10. The number that comes up is adjusted by any modifiers applicable and that’s your roll result. Some D10 have a “0” on one face. That’s read as a 10 (despite what it says). We could go on here, but you’ve got the drift now, and...really, there’s not much more to say about the dice. Navigation * Back To Contents * Next Chapter Category:Rules